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Vanuatu Ombudsman's Reports |
REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN
PUBLIC REPORT
ON THE
MISCONDUCT OF MINISTER DEMIS LANGO
3 February 1998
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PREAMBLE
'.... they obeyeth not, nor inclined their ear but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart; behold I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape ...'
Jeremiah 11 v 8 - 11.
This report deals with a matter which may appear small when set against the reports of theft and disappearance of public assets on a large scale but it is important as another illustration of a different kind of disregard for the duties and morals of our elected leaders.
Aside from the personal question of adultery and of forcing intercourse without consent, there is the national question of what kind of behaviour is to be expected from not only officials but Ministers.
When Police are forced to investigate noise and disorderly behaviour inside government office buildings in the middle of the night, the matter has gone beyond a matter of simple personal liberty and becomes one of civic morality.
When the offender concerned is one who travel overseas representing Vanuatu and encounters there all the temptations and opportunities such occasions provide, the public are entitled to expect a very different standard of representation and behaviour than the one demonstrated in this shameful episode. Perhaps a needed lesson will be learned by our leaders that they cannot be permitted to exploit their positions for inappropriate sexual conquest, any more than for financial gain.
1 CASE NUMBER
2 THE COMPLAINANT
3 COMPLAINT AGAINST
3.1 Hon. Demis Lango (‘Mr Lango’)
Minister of Civil Aviation, Telecommunication, Postal Services & Meteorological Services
4 THE COMPLAINT
4.1 That being a Minister of State he was involved in an alleged misconduct by having sex on Government premises with two females when they were full drunk with liquor and he was also involved in an alleged rape.
5 METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
5.1 Examination of statements already made by off duty policemen and three females involved.
5.2 Examination of correspondence received from the Ministry of Agriculture
6 SUMMARY
6.1 On 25/7/97 at night there was a closing of a course party at the SHEFA Province. One of the organisers of this party was Mr Clement Charley (‘Mr Charley’). He asked three women, Miss N, O, and P, to come and assist him with cooking. The women started drinking at this party.
6.2 After the party Mr Charley and the three women went to the office of the Ministry of Agriculture (‘Ministry’) because Mr Charley told the women that he kept some drinks there. At the Ministry Mr Charley and the women started drinking.
6.3 Mr Charley then left to pick up Mr Lango at his home in a taxi. They had already arranged that Mr Charley would pick him up at 10 o’clock that night. Mr Lango did not come in his official car but came with Mr Charley in a taxi. Mr Lango brought a bottle of Burundi rum with him. Mr Lango started drinking with Mr Charley and the women.
6.4 Later during the night Miss N stated that Mr Lango had sex with her in one of the rooms of the office block of the Ministry where they were drinking in. She made a statement to the police on 27/7/97 (see Annex B-1) on this incident. She was examined under oath by the Ombudsman where she stated that Mr Lango locked both doors of they room they were in and went and grabbed her by the collar of her T-shirt she was wearing. Because her shirt was an extra large size, it came off during her struggle to get away from Mr Lango leaving her only in her bra and underpants. That was when Mr Lango pushed her onto the floor, took her underpants off her and had sex with her. She went on to say that the whole incident took about 6 minutes. Miss N cried and ran with her clothes outside of the building and put them back on. She then left for Club Vanuatu with Mr Charley and Miss P.
6.5 One of the women, Miss O, was left alone with Mr Lango in the Ministry. About 3 o’clock in the morning of 26/7/97, an off duty policeman saw Mr Lango and Miss O fully naked and having sex in the office of the Ministry after hearing their voices. They were completely drunk. He recognised Mr Lango. This policeman told Mr Lango and Miss O to go home at once and left.
6.6 This off duty policeman came back about an hour later but this time with another off duty policeman. Mr Lango and Miss O were still fully naked. Mr Lango confirmed to the two policemen that ‘he was Minister Lango.’ Miss O also confirmed that she was the one seen with Mr Lango having sex.
7 PRELIMINARY REPORT
7.1 A preliminary report was issued by the Ombudsman which outlined the Ombudsman’s preliminary findings of misconduct in relation to the breach of leadership code. The Ombudsman gave 15 days from the receipt of the preliminary report to people who had been involved in the matter to give their comments and submissions. This discharged the Ombudsman’s constitutional obligation of granting ‘the person or body complained of an opportunity to reply to the complaints made against them’ granted by Article 62(4) of the Constitution.
7.2 In response I received comments from the following persons:
- Mr J (Annex A)
- Miss K (Annex B)
Their comments are explained in paragraphs 9.7 & 9.8.
7.3 Mr Lango did not response even he was given an extended time to respond in my second letter to her with a second copy of the preliminary report. For Mr Lango and those that did not response, I assume that they agreed with the report where it concerned them.
8 RELEVANT LAWS
8.1 Article 66(1) of the Constitution provides:
Any person defined as a leader in Article 67 has a duty to conduct himself in a way, both in his public and private life so as not to:
(b) demean his office or position:
8.2 The Constitution is very clear. When a person is appointed as a leader he must at all times conduct himself in his public or private life in such ways that are acceptable to the communities. In this case Mr Lango was and is a Member of Parliament elected by the people, a Minister of State, and a married man, and he belongs to a community in Paama, and his conduct should be unacceptable for the whole community.
8.3 Article 67 of the Constitution provides:
For the purpose of this Chapter, a leader means the President of the Republic, the Prime Ministers and other Ministers, members of Parliament, and such public servants, officers of Government agencies and other officers as may be prescribed by law.
8.4 This definition of a leader is very clear. Mr Lango, during the date of incident, was a member of Parliament and the same time a Minister of State. He was and is a leader under the Constitution.
Traditional custom and Christian principles
8.5 The Preamble of the Constitution provides:
We the people of Vanuatu, PROUD of our struggle for freedom,
DETERMINED to safeguard the achievements of this struggle,
CHERISHED our ethnic. linguistic and cultural diversity,
MINDFUL at the same time of our common destiny,
HEREBY proclaim the establishment of the united and free Republic of Vanuatu founded on traditional Melanesian values, faith in God, and Christian principles, AND for this purpose give ourselves this Constitution.
(My emphasis added)
8.6 The contents of the Preamble of the Vanuatu Constitution is very clear because they are worded in simple language. Amongst others, the Preamble says that Vanuatu was founded on traditional Melanesian values, faith in God and Christian principles. That means that the people of Vanuatu had strong beliefs in traditional customs and Christian principles, which were and still are deeply rooted in Vanuatu, because they proclaimed their Constitution on them. That was why the Vanuatu motto says ‘LONG GOD YUMI STANAP’.
8.7 Traditional customs sets out the rules of conduct, likewise, the Bible sets out its rules of conduct for Christian believers. For a leader such as Mr Lango I do not need to tell him what are the traditional customs and Christian believer’s rules of conduct because he is familiar with them as he was brought up in them. We now know, that Mr Lango, whilst still being a married man and a leader, had sexual affairs with other women, and by doing so he did not comply with his Constitutional role as an MP and Minister of State, and he did not respect the customs laws and Christian principles. His actions showed that he broke the custom law on adultery (the offence of adultery does not now exist in the Penal Code Act). He also broke one of the God’s Ten Commandments which says that ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’ (Exodus 20:14). The people themselves will make their own judgements on this.
9 RELEVANT MATTERS AND FACTS
9.1 This incident occurred in one of the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture during the night of 25/7/97 and early hours of 26/7/97
9.2 The following activities took place on 25/7/97:
(a) There was a closing of a course in the SHEFA Province Headquarters so Mr Charley asked Miss N. Miss O and Miss P to assist him because Mr Charley was arranging this function.
(b) After this function Mr Charley asked the three women to go with him to the Ministry of Agriculture because he told them he had a bottle of alcoholic drink there. Miss and Miss O said they accompanied Mr Charley to the Ministry of Agriculture but Miss P joined them later in the Ministry. This was confirmed by Miss P.
(c) At the Ministry of Agriculture Miss N and Miss O said they started drinking this strong drink that Mr Charley bought. Miss P did not drink any because she does not drink.
(d) Mr Charley said that he then left in a taxi at 10 o’clock at night to Mr Lango’s house to pick Mr Lango. This was already pre-arranged between the two of them because Miss N asked Mr Charley to find a man to go out with as a retaliation against her boyfriend because he was having an affair with another woman. A copy of Mr Charley’s statement is attached as Annex A.
(e) Mr Charley said that Miss N and Miss O were already drunk when he arrived back with Mr Lango. Mr Lango came with a bottle of Burundi rum. Miss N confirmed that this bottle of rum was brought.
(f) Miss N stated that Mr Lango called her into another room and had sex with her. She pushed Mr Lango off her and ran naked outside where Miss P was. Miss P confirmed that Miss N was totally naked when she ran out of the office and was crying as she was putting her clothes back on her. A copy of Miss N’s statement is attached as Annex B. A copy of Miss P’s statement is attached as Annex D.
(g) Miss N told Miss P and Mr Charley that they had to go to Club Vanuatu. When they left Miss O was still very drunk, asleep and fully clothed.
(h) Mr Lango remained in the Ministry of Agriculture with Miss O.
9.3 The following activities occurred in the early hours of 26/7/97:
(a) An off duty policeman, Mr Q, was walking back to the Police Single Barracks at Independence Park at about 3 o’clock in the morning when he heard a loud female voice coming out. He then went to investigate.
(b) He found out that this voice was coming out of an office in the Ministry of Agriculture and there were coming from a man and a woman and that they were having sex. He opened the door of the room these voices were coming, took his box of matches, stroked one, and found that they were fully naked and having sex. The woman blew out the match. A copy of Q’s statement is attached as Annex E.
(c) Mr Q, the policeman, recognised that this man was Minister Lango. He then told them to leave the office and that he would be coming back to check them again.
(d) Mr Q then asked Mr Lango as to why he was having sex with this woman in the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr Lango replied that the MALAMPA Province requested the Ministry of Agriculture to use this office for their fund raising.
(e) Mr Q came back with another policeman, Mr R, but heard no more voices so they thought Mr Lango and this woman already left. They shone their torchlight into the office and found clothing still lying around but saw no one. On checking another office they heard Mr Lango and this woman ran into another office. Mr Lango and this woman, who were still completely naked, went and hid in another office when they saw these two off duty policemen coming. Mr Q then asked Mr Lango again as to who he was. He replied that he was Minister Lango. All this time Mr Lango and this woman were fully naked. A copy of Mr R’s statement is attached as Annex F.
(f) When Mr Charley went back to check Mr Lango and Miss O, the police were already there with their torchlight. Mr Lango was in his underpants and Miss O in a piece of cloth wrapped around her. When Mr Charley left them for Club Vanuatu he said that Miss O was fully clothed and completely drunk. This was also confirmed by Miss N.
(g) Miss O confirmed to the off duty policemen (Messrs Q and R) who came to the Ministry of Agriculture that she was the one seen having sex with Mr Lango by Mr Q. A copy of Miss O’s statement is attached as Annex C.
(h) Messrs Lango and Charley went in government vehicle G.15 (Minister Lango’s official car) to the SHEFA Guesthouse at about 7 o’clock in the morning and picked up Miss P to go with them to North Efate to pick up food. At the Vanuatu Livestock Development area, one of the car’s tyre had a puncture so they came back to Vila.
9.4 The First Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Mr Adrien Malere stated to the Ombudsman that the MALAMPA Province never requested the Ministry of Agriculture to use one of its offices. Mr Charley was the one who requested and was permitted to use this office for a period of 1 - 31/7/97. It was only a verbal agreement made. The purpose of using this office was to raise funds for the Vanuatu boxers tour to American Samoa. A copy of this letter is attached as Annex G.
9.5 We understand that Mr Lango’s wife has been sent back to the island for a few months no which allowed Mr Lango to behave in such a way.
9.6 The Prime Minister, Hon. Rialuth Serge Vohor, knew about this incident and instructed the Police to get all the information but it appears that he had not taken any disciplinary measures against Mr Lango.
Comments by those who replied to Preliminary Report
9.7 Mr Lango did not respond specifically to the Preliminary Report but on 03.02.98 he rang the Office of the Ombudsman to say that the Chiefs had already settled his report in a custom court and he was sending the Chief involved to confirm this to the Ombudsman’s Office. This Chief came and confirmed that during the end of 1997, he held a custom court with another Chief into the affair Mr Lango was having with a married woman. Mr Lango was reconvicted and fined VT 100,000.
9.8 We do not know why this answer from Mr Lango was forwarded to us as it concerns another case of adultery.
9.9 Mr Charley
Mr Charley said (see Annex A-1) that he agreed with the contents of the report however, he went to pick up Mr Lango because they had planned to go out to a night club that night. He did not witness the incident but only saw Miss N crying.
9.10 Miss N
Miss N said (see Annex B-1) that she went outside of the office to give a drink to Miss P who was sitting outside. When she came back into the office Mr Lango had already locked both doors and came towards her and held onto the collar of her t-shirt. It was an extra large shirt so when she struggled to get away from him her t-shirt came off her leaving her only with her bra and underpants on. She said that was when Mr Lango pushed her on the floor and had sex with her. The whole incident took about 6 minutes. She went to say that Mr Lango was not drunk because he only started drinking when he came to see them. Miss N went on to say that Mr Charley started a boxing club for the SHEFA Province boxing club for women. She, with other women, went there to train as a boxer.
10 FINDINGS OF MISCONDUCT
Breach of Leadership Code
10.1 As a leader, Mr Lango breached the leadership code (art 66) (1) of the Constitution) when he conducted his behaviour in such a manner because doing so he totally ignored:
(a) the honour the people granted him when they voted him into Parliament as their MP;
(b) that he was a Minister of State;
(c) that he cannot use a Vanuatu Government office and vehicle to fulfil his sexual impulses;
(d) the custom laws and Christian principles binding him as a married man and a community leader being an example for all the people including the young people of his community and of the nation.
(e) that he is a leader.
By his action he demeaned his office and position as an MP, Minister of State and a leader, the honours given to him by his people in his constituency and the people of Vanuatu.
10.2 In article 66 of the Constitutions Minister Lango has ‘a duty to conduct himself in such a way, both in public and private life,’
10.3 Mr Lango is a member of the Presbyterian Church. This church, like any other Christian churches, preaches against adultery. He ignored this.
11 RECOMMENDATIONS
11.1 Mr Lango committed a serious misconduct because at the time of this incident he was a Member of Parliament, Minister of State and leader. He totally ignored the trust the people of his constituency placed on him when they voted him as their Member of Parliament. He totally ignored the customs and Christian principles binding him. I recommend that:
(a) not to be appointed as a Minister of State in the future;
(b) that the Prime Minister writes a letter of reprimand to Minister Lango for his misconduct and for this letter to be public;
(c) the fact of electing Mr Lango as their Member of Parliament rests with his own people who will have to decide whether they want such a representative for them;
(d) we are asking the Police and the Office of the Public Prosecutor to look into the statements of Miss N and Miss O to assess if there are any criminal offences from Mr Demis Lango.
12 CONCLUSION
12.1 In accordance with Article 63(4) of the Constitution and section 23 of the Ombudsman Act No. 4 of 1995, I am forwarding a copy of this report to the President of the Republic of Vanuatu, Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister responsible for the Met. Department and relevant public authorities. According to the Constitution their duty is to ‘decide upon the findings of the Ombudsman within reasonable time and the decision, with reasons, shall be given to the complainant forthwith’.
12.2 I therefore request all appropriate authorities to decide upon these findings within 21 days upon the date of receipt of this report.
- His Excellency the President of the Republic of Vanuatu
- Honourable Prime Minister.
Dated this 3rd February 1998.
Marie-Noëlle FERRIEUX PATTERSON
OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
13 LIST OF ANNEXURES
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